The ByWard Market district of Ottawa. Picture: Supplied Source: National Features

Parliament buildings as seen from Ottawa River. Picture: Supplied Source: National Features

A CAPITAL city should be a version in miniature of the country it represents.

This rarely happens. Most capitals get uppity and, before you know it, acquire distinctive personalities, snobbery and traffic jams.

Ottawa is a delightful exception, a mini-version of Canada that condenses the nature and aspirations of Canadians into one very attractive package.

For a start, Ottawa is English-speaking but conjoined to French-speaking Gatineau just across the Ottawa River.

Despite its size, its bilingual signs give it a cosmopolitan feel.

Like Canada itself, Ottawa often features in those "quality of life" lists as a great place to live.

Compact, easy to get around, surprisingly lively and a little quirky, it has a lovely location perched above the slow-moving river.

True, it's also like the rest of the country in being somewhat staid and polite, so don't bother coming for cutting-edge fashion or a wild nightlife. But its museums are outstanding and, like many a city filled with expense-account bureaucrats, Ottawa has plenty of good dining and shopping.

All this makes it worthy of an overnight stop if you're travelling through eastern Canada, say between Toronto and Quebec City or Montreal. You'll find a lovely town of thoroughly splendid pseudo-Gothic edifices, an extravagance of parkland, and statue-studded promenades.

What also makes Ottawa distinctively Canadian is that its gentility is a thin veneer over a country of frigid winters, untamed wilderness and a rugged colonial history.

It was chosen as the capital in 1857, when it was little more than a rough and remote logging town where French and Irish immigrants battled in the streets.

Canada's first prime minister regularly turned up in parliament drunk and once vomited during a speech. Alas, today's politicians are a boring lot, but there are still paper mills in the middle of town and wilderness begins just over the horizon.

Parliament Hill is the centre of Canadian political life, with buildings reminiscent of London's Houses of Parliament, though upsized and capped by towers and turrets.

You can tour the House of Commons and some of the historic rooms, but most people are content just to ascend the Peace Tower for a view over the city.

Then walk around the back of the building for a fine outlook over the river, which marks the border between English and French-speaking Canada.

The architecture of Gatineau across the water is quite a contrast in style, featuring concrete and factory chimneys. But take a hike across the bridge and you'll be rewarded by the Canadian Museum of Civilisation, widely regarded as one of the best museums in the world.

It provides an excellent overview of Canadian history, from prehistoric times to the present day.

The highlight is the third floor, where you're led through the history of European settlement in a series of re-created cabins and a relocated Ukrainian church. Stroll through a fortified French settlement, along Victorian streets, and even through a 1960s airport lounge.

If you have the stamina for just one museum, this should be it, but Ottawa has several other very good ones.

The Canada Science and Technology Museum is nicely interactive and will appeal to children, who can launch a rocket, gaze at the stars and take a simulated ride through outer space.

Ottawa is well set up for family visits, since it has decades of experience in hosting groups of schoolchildren on trips to the national capital.

Finally, the National Gallery of Canada - which has wonderful views over the river - has an outstanding collection of Canadian art, as well as the usual European masters.

Across the road, the Cathedral of Notre Dame has a gorgeous interior of glowing stained glass and coloured frescoes.

From here, it's a short walk to ByWard Market in the centre of town, a good place for an informal lunch and some shopping. In a mostly pedestrian zone taking up several city blocks, about 260 stalls cater to locals doing their daily food shopping.

There are a dozen pubs and nearly 100 eateries crammed into this area, allowing you to enjoy anything from Canadian seafood to a Thai curry or Mediterranean pasta. Some are little more than a few stand-up tables, others cafes, and there are a few full-blown restaurants.

The tiny kiosk called Beaver Tails is something of an Ottawa institution, selling the city's signature snack - a beaver-tail-shaped fritter sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar.

If that's too sweet, you can always try the Quebec speciality poutine - cheese curds and gravy on french fries guaranteed to clog your arteries.

You can always work off the calories afterwards with some walking or cycling in what is very much an outdoors city.

The easiest place to do either is the Rideau Canal, which cuts through the centre of town and ends, via a series of locks, in the river.

It was dug out by hand in the early 1830s, making it the oldest operational canal in North America and is now on the World Heritage list.

If you're keen, you can cycle for hours, as the canal runs 200km to Kingston, where it connects to Lake Ontario. In winter, the canal becomes the world's largest ice rink, running for more than 8km and decorated with Christmas trees and wooden stalls selling hot wine.

The Ottawans know how to enjoy themselves, even if the weather outside would skin a bear.

And shouldn't capitals, sometimes, stop being pretentious and just be fun?

The writer was a guest of Evergreen Tours.

--

Go2

OTTAWA

Getting there

Air Canada flies daily to Ottawa from Sydney (with interstate connections on domestic carriers) via a brief stopover in Vancouver.

Evergreen Tours has a nine-day Capital & Eastern Canada tour with a full day visit to Ottawa, including sightseeing and a museum visit. Airport transfers, tour guide, accommodation and ground transport are included, as well as some meals.

A NOTE ABOUT RELEVANT ADVERTISING: We collect information about the content (including ads) you use across this site and use it to make both advertising and content more relevant to you on our network and other sites.